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Prison Glossary › Letter S

Prison Glossary: Terms Starting With “S”

DOC terminology, BOP vocabulary, and correctional system language starting with S — from Satellite Armory to Suspension of Parole.

 
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 
Satellite Armory
The area designated by the facility or agency administrative head used to store and issue weapons, chemical agents, ammunition, and/or related security equipment to specific posts, emergency teams, and routine assignments.
Scheduled Movement
The supervised, timed interval release of offenders from one location to another, including individual and group offender movement to and from work and program assignments.
Sealing of Record
Action taken by DOC employees to prevent the inadvertent or intentional disclosure of criminal information ordered sealed by a court. Sealing does not mean the expungement or destruction of such information.
Security Level
The physical features and operational requirements of a facility. Security levels are referred to in terms of Level I/Low, Level II/Minimum, Level III/Medium and Level IV/Maximum.
Security Locks
A lock that controls doors, gates, hatches, panels, or accesses to areas of electrical and/or mechanical controls of gates, doors, hatches, or panels which prevent or control offender movement.
Segregation
The confinement of an offender to an individual cell that is separated from the general population.
Self-Inflicted Injury
Any incident involving self-inflicted wounds to include suicidal gestures or suicide attempts.
Sentence Verified
The sentence with the latest release date on concurrent sentences.
Sentencing County
Prison sentence has been input and verified by the county or prison department of corrections.
Sentence Count Status
Imposed is a prison sentence given by the courts. Vacated is a prison sentence which has been overturned by the sentencing court.
Sending State
The state requesting transfer of supervision of a parolee from his/her state to the new holding state under the Interstate Compact for Adult Offender Supervision, or an offender under the Corrections Compact Agreement.
Sensitive Case
A case deemed sensitive by one or more of the following factors:
  1. A career criminal currently serving a sentence(s) for a violent crime(s)
  2. An offender with a high potential for violence
  3. A case involving public notoriety
Sex Offender
Any offender who is recommended for participation in a treatment program.
Sex Offender Registration
Sex offenders are defined as those individuals who were convicted or released from the custody of the Department of Corrections for an unlawful sex offense as defined in any state statute, or who have been released from the custody of the DOC and are thereby ordered to register with the local law enforcement office where they reside.
Sex Offender Registration as Condition of Parole
As a condition of parole, the Parole Board may order any person convicted of an offense, the underlying factual basis of which is determined by the Department of Corrections to involve unlawful sexual behavior to register as a sex offender for the period of the person's parole.
Sexual Act
Contact of any offender between the penis and the vulva or the penis and the anus involving penetration, however slight; or contact between the mouth and the penis, vulva, or anus; or penetration of the anal or genital opening of another person by a hand, finger or other object.
Sexual Aggressor
An offender who has been convicted in a criminal proceeding or an administrative proceeding for an act of sexual assault/rape committed while in custody in an institutional setting; or an offender who is identified as such through the Sex Offender Identification administrative review process; or an offender who is identified as a sexual violent predator.
Sexual Assault/Rape
The act of unwanted sexual intrusion, sexual contact, or sexual penetration by any person on another by force, threat, coercion, or intimidation.
Sexual Assault/Rape Victim
A person who reports having been subjected to sexual assault/rape.
Sexual Contact
Contact of any offender involving intentional touching, either directly or through the clothing, of the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of an offender.
Sexual Harassment
Any unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, unequal treatment, and other unwelcome verbal and physical conduct based on a person's sex when:
  1. Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly as a term or condition of an individual's safety or employment;
  2. Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment decisions about a person;
  3. Such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially and unreasonably interfering with a DOC employee's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or educational environment.
Sexual Violence and/or Sexual Abuse
A range of behaviors from battery, mutilation or torture of the genital area, to intentional unwanted sexual conduct which can be verbal, written, visual, or physical. Minor children cannot consent to sexual behavior with an adult; therefore, by definition any sexual conduct with a child would be unwanted.
Sexually Explicit Material
Materials which clearly depict or describe bestiality, pedophilia, sadism, masochism, necrophilia, discharge of bodily fluids, oral, anal or vaginal penetration by animate or inanimate objects, or oral sex.
Sexually Violent Predator (SVP)
A sex offender who is identified as a sexually violent predator. An offender may be designated as a sexually violent predator by the court or by the Parole Board.
Shift Commander
The DOC employee assigned to be responsible for the operation of the facility during any shift.
Special Housing Unit (SHU)
The most secure confinement area designed to manage those offenders placed at the status of pending revocation, pending disposition of criminal charges, punitive segregation, or removal from population.
Special Needs Offenders
Offenders whose mental and/or physical condition requires special accommodation by DOC employees, contract workers, or volunteers. Special needs offenders may include, but are not limited to, drug or alcohol addicts or abusers, the emotionally disturbed, mentally retarded, suspected mentally ill, physically handicapped, chronically ill, the disabled or infirm, those with documented custody issues and those with limited academic ability or learning disability.
Specialized Treatment Program
A specific treatment or behavior management program that includes specialized program plans to which offenders are expected to comply.
Spoor
Traces which can be directly related to the subject being tracked (e.g. footprints in offender's size and type of shoe, shell casings from the weapon known to be carried, blood of offender's type).
Staging Area
Temporary locations at or near an incident site where DOC employees and/or equipment are kept while waiting for tactical assignments.
Standing Count
A visual verification of a living, breathing offender who has both feet on the floor, standing in an upright position in his/her cell or work station, verifying the offender against his/her ID card.
State Agency
Any department, institution, or other agency of the state, including institutions of higher learning.
State Issue Property
Items issued to the offender from the DOC.
Strip Restraints
Specifically manufactured hand restraints attached to a belly chain and secured to the offender with a padlock. These restraints limit the range of motion of the offender's arms.
Strip Search
Consists of an offender removing all clothing to permit a visual inspection of all body cavities (mouth, under the tongue, nose, ears, and anus), genitals, breasts, buttocks, and the bottoms of the feet. Such searches should be conducted by a DOC employee of the same sex as the offender being searched, except in emergency conditions. Strip searches should be conducted in a private location and in a respectful manner. A flashlight may be used during strip searches. Clothing will be searched while the offender stands clear of his/her clothing.
Stripped Cell
A cell in which an offender's property, bed linen, mattress, and clothing (including undergarments and socks) have been removed to prevent self-injurious behavior. The offender will be provided an approved safety garment and a safety blanket which may be used as a mattress unless specifically prohibited by clinical order.
Subject Matter Expert
An individual recognized as an authority or having specialized knowledge and/or training which assists in any process of an audit, inspection, or review.
Substantial Evidence
Such evidence that a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to support a conclusion. It is that quality of evidence necessary for a court to affirm a decision of an administrative board.
Substantial Limitation
Refers to disabilities that make an individual unable to perform a major life activity that the average person in the general population can perform; or that significantly restricts an individual as to the condition, manner or duration under which he/she can perform a major life activity as compared to the condition, manner, or duration under which an average person in the general population can perform that same major life activity.
Suicide
Offender death which occurs as a result of the offender's own actions and which are judged by a mental health professional to be due to the offender's intent to cause his/her own death.
Suicide Attempt
An act which causes or could cause serious harm and which occurs as a result of the offender's own actions and which is judged by a mental health professional to be due to the offender's intent to cause his/her own death.
Suspected Escape
When events or evidence is found to indicate an escape has occurred or is in progress.
Suspension of Parole
A temporary withholding of parole date on offenders serving sentences with discretionary release.
 

Letter S — Terminology FAQ

Common questions about terms starting with S
What is the SHU and how long can an inmate be held there? +
The SHU (Special Housing Unit) is the restrictive housing area for inmates in punitive segregation, pending investigation, protective custody, or removal from general population. Conditions include cell confinement approximately 23 hours per day, limited property, reduced commissary, and restricted visits. Duration varies: punitive segregation has a defined term tied to the infraction; administrative SHU has no fixed end date and is reviewed regularly. Extended SHU placement has been the subject of significant constitutional litigation regarding Eighth Amendment and due process concerns.
What is sex offender registration and what are the ongoing obligations? +
Sex offender registration requires periodic reporting to local law enforcement with current address, employer, vehicle, and other identifying information. Registration tiers (I, II, III) determine frequency of updates and duration of registration -- ranging from 15 years to lifetime. Address changes must be reported within a specified window, often 3-5 days. Failure to update registration is a felony in most states. Registrants may be subject to residency and employment restrictions limiting where they can live and work after release.
What is a standing count and what happens if an inmate misses one? +
A standing count requires the inmate to be physically present in their designated location -- cell or work station -- standing upright with both feet on the floor. BOP facilities conduct standing counts at 12:00 am, 3:00 am, 5:00 am, 4:00 pm, and 9:00 pm, plus additional counts as needed. All facility movement is suspended. Failure to be present for a count is an immediate security incident -- staff investigate and, if the inmate cannot be located within a short window, an escape notification is initiated.
What is suspension of parole and how does it differ from revocation? +
Suspension of parole is a temporary withholding of a discretionary parole date -- it pauses the release while an issue is investigated or a hearing is scheduled. It does not permanently cancel the parole. Revocation is the formal termination of parole status following a hearing that found a violation -- it returns the inmate to custody to serve remaining time. A rescission hearing is held to determine the disposition of a parole suspension order. Suspension can precede revocation or be resolved without revocation if the issue is resolved favorably.
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